Working on a Dream

Monday, May 9, 2011

Picture this: Your in a meeting. Your eyes are glazed over. You smile but you don't know what you are smiling at. You hear noises coming from a person in a business suit.

Or

Your sitting in class. Your iPhone is on vibrate. Your tapping your pencil against your notebook. You hear noises coming from a person standing up in front of the class.

Do you know where you are?
Of course you do.
--- You are sitting through another brain busting PowerPoint presentation.

PowerPoint is one of our societies greatest tools to effectively communicate, however, most people get it dead wrong. Below, Seth Godin (if you never heard of him, trust me it is time that you did) shares his ideas about presenting effectively.

-Communication is about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are.) If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the meeting and send in a report.

Think about it like this: Our brains have two sides.

The right side is emotional, musical and moody.

The left side is focused on dexterity, facts & hard data.

When you show up to give a presentation, people want to use both parts of their brain. So they use the right side to judge the way you talk, the way you dress and your body language. Often, people come to a conclusion about your presentation by the time you’re on the second slide. After that, it’s often too late for your bullet points to do you much good.

With this in mind, here are the five rules you need to remember to create amazing PowerPoint presentations

1.No more than 6 words on a slide. EVER. There is no presentation so complex that this rule needs to be broken.2.No cheesy images.3.No dissolves, spins or other transitions. These just make you look like your in the 2nd grade.4.Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds and music from Cd's and leverage the *Proustian effect this can have. If people start bouncing up and down to the Grateful Dead, you’ve kept them from falling asleep, and you’ve reminded them that this isn’t a typical meeting you’re running.

5.Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides before you start. People will spend their time trying to read through them while you present. Give a summary sheet after your done.

There you have it! And if these 5 rules are too much for you to remember. Then use this 1 rule. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid (or as we say in the church, keep it simple saint).

Less is more with PowerPoint. So, when you communicate, don't just think of yourself & your information, think of your audience!

*What is the Proustion Effect? It's what happens in your brain when a smell unleashes a flood of memories, taking you back to a particular time and place...(pretty cool huh?)